Cooling-tower.



J. F. GRACE.y

COOLING TOWER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, |913.

1,142,809. l Patented Junel 15, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET J. F. GRACE.

COOLING TOWER.

APPLICATION man MAR. T. 191s.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN F. GRACE, OF NEW Specification of Letters ,-Pavtenti.`

YORK, N. Y., AssIGNoR To :HENRY .RifwormenIilverroiv,y A 4. CORPORATION OE NEW JERSEY.

Appiica'tionaieamaijh 7,1913.' seriaimrsaeofi. Iy

To all 'wh om 1' t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN F. GR.,\oE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, county of Kings, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cooling-Towers, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to towers of that class used for cooling towers, air coolers and similar purposes, in which a filling is used to aid the exchange of heat between a liquid trickling downward overthe filling and an air or gas current t aveling upward, the invention being intended especially lfor use in large cooling towers such as are now used for cooling the water of condensation in large steam plants. Y

The especial objects of the invention are to provide an Aimproved construction by which the inner side of the shell and interior frame work shall be readily accessible for painting, repair, and other purposes, and to provide an improved board filling by which the boards shall be held securely'in position without nailing;

The invention includes, also, certain specie features, as hereinafter described and claimed. i In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, there isshown a cooling tower embodying all the features of the invention in their preferred form, and this construction will now be described in detail, and the features formingfthe invention then specifically pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central lsection of the Vlower or filling portion of the tower. Fig. 2 is a detailplan view of a portion of the tower von they 'line 2 of Fig. l, showing the filling in place. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portionA of the tower, showing the doors closed. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a portion of the tower and filling on the line i o f Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail section of the filling looking to the left in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail cross section of a portion of the shell showingwthe doors open. i 1

Referring to the drawings, the cooling tower. is shown as of the common circular form, A being the shell or tower proper, thelower portion of which incloses the fillfPl-t-nt Jane 15,191.5..

ing and lthe upper portion v`4forms the chiini- I ney in natural draft use, this shell being supported on the foundationB aboveV the well C which receivesthe tower discharge. Above the well Cris the air admission space below the fillingthrough Vwhich air is forced in by the fansD, of which two are shown, or air isdrawn '1n by naturaldraftl The eov air -from the fans is `preferably guided up;vv

ward to the -filling-*so as to be distributed therethrough bythe curved guides 10, and the air admission space of .the tower is preferably provided with doors .E ongopposite sides of the. tower closing. openings `11,;bv whichlarge' space for theadmission of air is provided by opening lthe doors, when/it is desired to usethefeonstruction asanatural draft tower, and which doors give convenient access to the tower below the filling. i

These doors arel preferably,v arranged lin pairs, as shown,swingingiin Oppositefdi. rections, and withythe doors. of each pair adapted to 'be securedtogether when fully openisoas to .form guides for directing `thc air into the'tower, as shown inyFig.l (3,.thus securing better air distribution.` The usual liquid pipe distributor F, connected to the centr-al suppl)Y pipe (i, i-s shown.` .f

Referring now to the`V filling-portion of the tower, the filling is made in two parts,

the main iillingoceupying .the mainv portion `of the tower being` permanent and fixed in plac`e,1as usual in such towers, but boing surrounded by` a separate filling made rcmovable, so that the spaceioc'enpicd by this removable filling-may be utilized, Awhen desired, for aceessto the. inner sithx of the vshell and interior frame of the tower, `thus avoiding the seriousobjection to such cooling towers as proviouslv7 constructed, that.A

the inner side of the she-ll and interior'frame work are not accessible forapainting onrepair without'the expensive removal and replacement of the tower filling.;` .i

In the construction shown, themain fille ing occupying the greater part of the filling portion of thetower is formed of boards o `arranged edgewise with alternate 'layers crossing each other, as usual in such con` structions, this boardfilling being shown as supported by a series ofheavier boards resting on channel irons or I-beams 12 ex,- tending across the tower and supported in any suitable manner. This portion of the filling, as shown,`fis the same as previously boards a and fitting tightly in the spaces so as to lock the filling boards in position without nailing.k These locking boards c are inserted vertically, and are shown as each eX- tending vertically through four series of boards a, but it will be understood that these locking boards `may be of any convenient length.

The removable filling next thel shell, is preferably formed, as shown, 4of vertical boards Z extending from the top to the bottom of the filling in one length and suspended by cross bars 13 extending across the removable filling space and supported by bars 14, 15, shown as angle irons, the bars 14 being secured to the inner side of the shell and the bars 15 being the top bars of the frame work surrounding the inner filling and supporting the shell, this frame work consisting of vertical and horizontal bars 15, arranged on opposite sides of the removable filling space and secured together by cross braces 16. The boards Z may thus be removed readily from` any part or the whole of the space surrounding the main filling. The liquid dropping from the removable filling d is preferably delivered inward to the central part of the tower by trough 17. It will be seen that this filling Z provides ample space for convenient access to the interior of the shell and tower frame work, throughout the filling portionA of the tower, so that the main filling need not be disturbed for re-painting or other repair, but it is necessary only to remove the filling d from the portion of the tower to which access is desired either by moving the filling sidewise within the tower or wholly or partially withdrawing it from the tower. By lifting the bars 13 and attached boards d sufficiently to release the bars 13 from the supports 14, 15, the boards d may be moved sidewise so as to leave open spaces within the casing A, as required, or the boards dvmay be lifted wholly or partially outof thetower, if desired for any purpose.

While the filling is preferably wooden boards, as described, it will be understood that these may be sheets or plates of other suitable material, and the term boards is intended to cover such modifications. Moreover, the feature of combining an inner fixed filling with an outer removable filling may be embodied in cooling towers using any form of filling, in place of the board filling shown, many different forms of filling, such as hollow pipe or tile, metal plates, chains and nettings being of common use in such cooling towers, and this feature of the invention, considered broadly, is not limited to the particular form or arrangement of filling shown.

lVhile a combined forced and natural draft tower is'illustrated, it will be understood that the features of the invention relating -to the filling of the tower are equally applicable to all forms of cooling or similar towers.

What I claim is:

1. A tower of the class described, comprising a tower shell, a fixed inner filling and a removable outer filling surrounding the inner filling and arranged to provide by its removal access to the inner side of the tower shell. p

2. A tower of the class described, vcomprising a tower shell, a fiXed inner filling and an outer filling surrounding the inner filling, said outer filling being suspended from the top of the filling portion of the tower and arranged to be withdrawn upward for removal from the tower to provide space for access to the inner side of the tower shell.

3. A tower of the class described, comprising a tower shell, a fixed inner filling with space surrounding said filling for access to the inner side of the tower shell, and a removable filling in said space consisting of boards Z suspended separately from the top of the filling portion of the tower.

4. A tower of the class described having a filling composed of boards arranged in series edgewise one upon and crosswise of the other and locking boards extending diagonally through the spaces between crossing boards for holding them in place.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN F. GRACE. Witnesses:

C. J. SAWYER, T. F. Kanon. 

